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New professorship in biomedicine at Aarhus University

Thomas Vorup-Jensen has recently begun work in a new professorship at the Department of Biomedicine at Aarhus University. Here he will conduct research into the function of protein molecules in the immune system – and hopefully pave the way for entirely new drugs.

On 1 December 2017, Thomas Vorup-Jensen took up a new professorship at the Department of Biomedicine. Photo: Melissa Bach Yildrim, AU Photo.

The human immune system is extremely complicated and still holds many unsolved riddles. In his new professorship, Thomas Vorup-Jensen will examine one of these riddles by attempting to get to the bottom of the function of protein molecules in the immune system. 

Protein molecules play a crucial role when our immune system is required to recognise infectious micro-organisms, and also when it mistakenly attacks the body's own tissue. Uncovering the very complicated binding reactions which protein molecules are a part of can therefore help us improve our understanding of the immune system's basic functions. It can also help to develop new strategies to reduce inflammation.

Utilising modern computer algorithms, the newly appointed professor will analyse the binding reactions of the protein molecules, which have thus far been difficult to understand. This knowledge will make it possible to examine the ability of various chemical substances to block the binding reactions in the immune system, which in the long term may pave the way for the creation of new and effective drugs.

Contact

Professor, MD, DMSc Thomas Vorup-Jensen

Aarhus University, Department of Biomedicine

Email: vorup-jensen@biomed.au.dk

Tel.: (+45) 8716 7853

Mobile: (+45) 2148 9781